Rice Sack Princess
by illutia mist and cerespallas
Summary: What will you do, if your fiance you have never even met before, went missing? For Mikan, that means running away and finding him herself. But in her journey, she meets this boy...
1. Running From Castle

**illutia mist: HI, GOOD READERS! I'M BA-**

**SMACK!**

**illutia mist: (Rubbing her head) Ouch! What the hell-!**

**Natsume: (Annoyed) For being noisy and overworking us, freaky author. Now what is this new story?**

**illutia mist: (Pouts while still rubbing her head) You don't need to hit my poor head that hard…**

**Natsume: (Arches an eyebrow) I won't repeat my question again. (Showing his fist in front of illutia)**

**illutia mist: Fine! Fine! This new story is the compilation from me and cerespallas! The main idea is from ceres, which she got from a folklore legend. Satisfied?**

**Natsume: …I suddenly feel like to hit your head.**

**illutia mist: (Protecting her head with her arms) Meanie! I'll make you suffer if you do that again!**

**Natsume: (Rolls his eyes) Yeah, suffer. Like you'll do it…if I knock you out.**

**illutia mist: (Pointing at him) Knock me out and you won't get the ending!**

**SMACK!**

**illutia mist: (Rubbing her sore head again) HEY! I told you!**

**Natsume: (Walking away) You don't own us, freaky author. Meaning that you don't own Gakuen Alice and its characters and you have no right to command us.**

**illutia mist: (Mumbles) Why don't you also say that the folklore legend is not us too?**

**Natsume: (Waving his hand while walking away) Yeah, that too, freaky author.**

**illutia mist: …Meanie…**

**Chapter 1: Running from castle**

"WHAT?!"

An earth-cracking-high-pitched sound came from a certain place in the calm prosperous country of Insignia. Even the guardian on the front gate could hear that making-ears-bleeding sound.

They knew who the owner of the sound was, but couldn't do anything except shrugging and wondering what happened while guarding the front gate.

The people of Insignia country also turned their head to a certain place, which was the palace, after hearing that sound. But then they just shrugged it off and went back to their daily activities.

Meanwhile, the owner of the voice fumed madly at the man in front of her. Her hazel orbs threw daggers-glare dangerously. Her face was red because of the anger. Her long auburn hair followed her every little movement, swaying smoothly behind her.

Even though she was mad at that time, her beautiful features was still visible.

She was Mikan Sakura, the only Princess of Insignia Kingdom and the only daughter of Narumi, who happened to be the King of Insignia Kingdom.

"Now, now, calm down, my child," said the blonde wavy-haired man in front of her as he raised his hands to calm down his dearest daughter, "It's not good for a young girl like you to be mad like that. Wrinkles will show up faster than it must be."

And this just made a vein popped on her head before she…

BANG!

…Yeah. She banged the mahogany desk in front of her that separated her and the King with her palms.

The King looked at her palms that was gluing on the desk, trying to keep his happy-go-lucky face on. He laughed nervously and said, "Uh…Mikan, you're a good girl, right? Please…"

"NO! WHY SHOULD I DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?! TELL ME THE REASON!!" she shouted furiously, cutting off her father's sentence. She put on the Lord-of-The-Death's face on her should-be-beautiful face.

The King looked at her extremely-angry face, thinking that his daughter was being possessed by the Lord-of-The-Hell at that time. "Well, Mikan…" he started, gulping nervously. "This is for the prosperity of our country."

The brunette narrowed her eyes, thinking that if the reason was non-sense, she should choke or hit her father for this. Well, anything that could realize the stupid king about his stupid plan.

Narumi took a hold on his collar before he answered, "Well…you see…It's because our country can only do farming and theirs can only do breeding…"

Mikan lifted her palms from the desk then crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her irritation had gone down a little. "So?" she asked while raising an eyebrow.

The King got relaxed for a while, seeing that his daughter had calmed down…a bit. "If these two kingdoms combine, we can fill the part that we're lacked of and both countries' prosperity will rise," he explained, trying to convince the brunette. Mikan didn't give any reaction. Instead, she still glared at him with a pout on her face. "Mikan…please…This is for our people…" the King pleaded.

The brunette grew quiet for a while, thinking. Her annoyed expression was still visible on her face.

"Fine," she finally answered, making the king smiled slightly and then she continued, "But just because of our people."

Narumi nodded slightly, still smiling. "Thank you, my dear. I know you'll understand why I'm doing this," he said as he stood up, making the brunette alerted to his next movement.

"No…No…" she mumbled as she watched her father walking around the mahogany desk to her direction with both arms spreading widely, ready to hug his daughter.

"Mikan, you're my dearest-"

He was cut off when Mikan ducked, avoiding his hug. "No hug today, father. Maybe next time," she said as she ran to the balcony and jumped off from the white fence.

"Mikan!" Narumi quickly ran to the balcony, making sure that her daughter was just fine after jumping from the second floor.

But he didn't find anyone there.

"I'm here, father," the feminine girl voice attracted the King's attention to a tree in front of him.

The brunette sat on the branch, legs were crossing on the branch while facing her father.

Narumi sighed in relief, seeing his only daughter was just fine. "Don't do that again, my dear. You gave me a heart attack," he said as he smiled.

Then he realized something.

He observed his daughter in silence for a while then said, "Mikan, I thought I've called an etiquette teacher a month ago to teach you being a good lady. And I believe that she didn't teach you to climb the tree and sit like that."

Mikan rolled her eyes at his statement, the King realized this as one thing that her daughter would do. "You ditched the lesson for a month? When I wasn't at the palace?" he asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Forget that etiquette thing, father. It doesn't suit me," she replied in a relaxed tone.

"You know, your soon-to-be-fiancé won't like this," the King reminded her.

The brunette didn't hear him. She hung on the branch with her hands then released her grasp, landing gracefully on the grassy ground. "Whatever, father! I'll see you later!" she smiled brightly at him before she turned to her back and went off to she-knows-where.

Narumi let out a sigh and smiled, watching her running figure. "At least you still smile instead of ignoring me after I told you the decision…" he muttered while staring at the blue sky.

* * *

"Ah! Father is really…Haaah…" the 18 year old brunette whined while leaned her back on the trunk of the Sakura tree in the palace garden. She was sitting on one of the branch, hanging her legs loosely on the branch.

Staring to nowhere in front of her, she drowned herself in her thought. 'Haah…My peaceful day has been disturbed by father…' she closed her eyes, 'Why should I marry the Prince of Sulvaria Kingdom?…Oh yeah…If this isn't for our people, I won't do it!'

The brunette opened her eyes again, looking far in front of her and caught a glimpse of an unknown person disappeared at a corner of the palace. Before the person disappeared, she managed to catch a glimpse of the person's raven-colored hair.

'…That person again…Wonder who's that. I always saw the figure walking around the palace recently but I have never met that person,' she thought about it for a few seconds, still looking at the corner where the figure just disappeared. After a few minutes thinking, she shrugged it off and back to her previous activity, gazing to nowhere in front of her.

As the wind blew softly on her face, she got relaxed. And soon, she went to her deep slumber.

* * *

KRIIINNNGGGG!!

The phone on the king's working desk was ringing for five minutes long before the windy king finally picked it up. "Hello?" Narumi answered, signing the documents that formed a mountain of paper on his desk.

"_King Narumi, it's me,_" a sound from the other side of the phone was heard.

Knowing who the owner of the sound was, Narumi plastered a smile on his face and greeted, "Ah, King Imai, how are you doing?"

"_I'm_ _fine. I called you because I want to talk to you about something…_"

"Ah, yes. About the engagement, right? Mikan has accepted it. Do you want to decide when the engagement will be hold?" the King said as he continued to sign the documents.

"_No. It's about my son who should be engaged to your daughter._"

The topic attracted Narumi's attention from his work. He stopped signing the document as he silenced for a few seconds, trying to absorb what the neighbor's country King just said. "Eh? The Prince?" he asked, making sure that he what he heard just now wasn't wrong.

"_Yes. Well, you see, my son was kidnapped by someone just an hour ago. I have commanded our men to search for him, but…_"

"But?" Narumi repeated. Curiosity was engulfing him as he waited the King from the neighbor country continuing his speech.

"_But if we can't find him, I'm afraid that we should cancel the engagement…_"

Narumi grew silenced for a while before he replied, "I see. I'll send some of my men to help you searching for the prince then. I'll tell her that the engagement is delayed until the Prince is found."

"_Thank you for the understanding, King Narumi. And thank you for the assistance too. I appreciate it._"

The blonde wavy-haired man formed a smile on his lips, "No need, King Imai. We're allies after all."

"_Thank you again. Well, have a nice day, King Narumi. Please send my regard to your daughter too._"

"I will. I hope you can find your son soon."

And with that, the conversation ended. Narumi put the phone back to its place and immediately called his right-hand, "Kyoji!"

Fulfilling his call, the door to his office opened, revealing a man with black-colored hair and a pair of blue orbs. He wore white suits and black shoes, just like what the King told him to do since he had a promotion two months ago. In the short time, he had impressed the King by doing well on his job, gaining him a trust from the King himself.

"You call me, my lord?" Kyoji asked as he bowed his head a little, still standing by the door.

"I want you to tell the commander to prepare fifty men and send them to Sulvaria kingdom. Their Prince was kidnapped and they need our help," Narumi told him while rubbing his temple. "And if you find Mikan, please tell her that the engagement will be delayed until the Prince is found."

"I understand, my lord. Then I excuse myself for now," the black-haired man bowed his head again and went out from the room, didn't forget to close the door before he left.

The exhausted king put his chin on his palm that was supported by his elbow on the desk. He let out a sigh as he looked at the paper in front of him. "…Maybe I'll take a rest for a while…" he muttered tiredly.

* * *

"…Have you heard that?"

The voice woke the brunette up from her slumber. She yawned in silence then rubbed her sleepy eyes, realizing that she had fallen asleep on the tree branch. 'How long I've been slept here?' she thought as she stretched her arms, feeling a little stiff after sleeping on the tree branch for quite a long time.

"What is it?"

Hearing another voice, she shifted her attention under the tree and saw two maids talking about something. 'Hm? Are they taking a break?' she thought while trying to hear what the two talking about.

"I heard from another maid that the Prince from the Sulvaria Kingdom was kidnapped," the blue-haired one said.

'Eh?' the brunette arched an eyebrow, now focusing her attention fully on the conversation.

"Really?" another maid with pink-colored hair said in disbelief.

"Yeah. And King Narumi decided to send a few soldiers to help them searching for the Prince."

"Is that so? What about the engagement then? I heard news that Princess is engaged to the Prince from Sulvaria Kingdom."

The blue-haired girl shrugged her shoulder and said, "Maybe it's being cancelled…at least until they find the Prince."

Mikan kept silenced on the tree branch, thinking about what she had just heard. 'The engagement is being cancelled? Is that true?' she thought, feeling a little happy. But her happiness was gone when she thought again, 'But then…until they find the Prince?'

"Hey! You two! Don't slack off from your work!"

The stern man voice surprised the three girls, including the brunette who was eavesdropping from the tree branch.

"We're sorry, Sir!" the two maids said in unison then went off from the place, leaving the owner of the voice and the brunette who was sitting on the three branch there.

Mikan looked down to see the person that just scolded the maids. And there, she found a familiar face of her father's right-hand person, Kyoji.

The black-haired man looked up to the tree branch. His blue orbs met the Princess' hazel orbs. As their gazes were locked at each other, he smiled and said, "I knew you must be sleeping again on this Sakura tree, Princess. Seeing the two maids chatting here, I guess that you have heard about the news."

Mikan stared at him for a while then nodded. "Then it's true?" she asked, full of curiosity, "That the Prince was kidnapped and my engagement is cancelled until they find the Prince?"

Kyoji nodded then stared back at her, "Yes, Princess Sakura. Your father told me to tell you that the engagement is delayed until the Prince is found."

The brunette shifted her gazes to the ground, still couldn't believe at what she just heard. She felt happy of course, hearing that the engagement was being cancelled. But there's also a little guilt in her heart.

"Where's father?" she asked, still looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting object in that place.

The man stared at her for a while before he answered, "I believe he's still in his office by now."

Without thinking anymore, the Princess of Insignia Kingdom jumped off from the branch. Once her feet touched the ground, she ran to a certain direction, leaving the man standing under the shade of Sakura tree.

Kyoji smiled at the running brunette, knowing where she would go at that time. Even though she didn't agree about the engagement, she cared about her father and their country.

* * *

Mikan landed gracefully on the balcony where she just flew off from her father a few hours ago. She used the tree near the balcony to reach there. For her, it's just another shortcut to the king's office.

She walked in silently, checking if her father was still on his office. Inside the room, she found a figure sleeping on the desk. His head was resting on both of his arms. The brunette moved closer to him, wondering if he was really sleeping at that time. She observed him closer and found the tired face of the man, which was happened to be her father and the King of Insignia Kingdom.

'He looked so exhausted…' she thought while staring at the sleeping King.

After staring at the sleeping figure for a few minutes, she shifted her gazes to some papers on the desk. Engulfed in curiosity, she took one and read it.

Her eyes widened.

'What is this? Our country's expenses are this much?' she thought in disbelief, scanning her eyes once again on the paper in her hands.

She looked at the mountain of paper on the desk, took another paper and read it, 'I know that our country can only do farming, so we have to import a few things like egg, wool, and meat. But I never knew that it would be this expensive…'

The brunette shifted her gazes to the sleeping man. 'Is this why father want me to engage with the Sulvaria Kingdom? So we don't have to spend so much on things?' she thought, starting to understand the reason behind the engagement.

She put back the paper on the desk and went to the door. Before she went out from the door, she took a last glance at the king and smiled sadly.

'Don't worry, father. I'll find the Prince.'

Then she closed the door with a soft thud.

* * *

"Not this…not this…"

Mikan was in her bedroom right now, struggling in her closet. She threw a few clothes from the closet to the random direction without any care, causing the clothes were scattered on the bed and floor.

A few minutes passed and she hadn't found what she's looking for. She took the last clothes in her hands to the bed then sighed. "Geez…This must be father's work again. He must have told the maid to throw away my casual clothes," she mumbled in irritation, staring at the clothes that filled every corner in her bedroom, "Now I have no clothes to disguise myself."

She put her hands on her hips and tapped one of her feet on the floor, thinking of another way.

Then an idea suddenly popped in her mind.

With a grin on her lips, she went out from the room, leaving her doomed room behind. She went through the corridor, turned on a corner then went down the stairs until she finally reached a small wooden door near the stair on the main hall.

She opened the wooden door, staring at a familiar room in front of her which was filled with delicious smell of food. She spotted a pan that's still being cooked on the stove.

No wonder if there's so much smell of food in the room. It's royal kitchen after all.

After she made sure that no one was there, she went to another room connected to the kitchen. The room had many food supplies. There're vegetable, rice, meat, and many more.

But she didn't intend to take any of it at that time. It's not her purpose for coming to that place.

She approached a wooden cabinet at the corner of the room and opened it. Inside, there're many sacks being kept there. She took two sacks and closed the cabinet then was about to go out from the room when…

SREK!

She directly whipped her head to the source of the sound, surprised. She could feel that her heart beating so fast at that time.

SREK!

The sound was heard again, making her trembled slightly. 'What's that?' she thought as her eyes locked at a certain corner where a pile of half-filled sacks being put together.

Mikan took a few steps forward, approaching the pile of half-filled sacks at the corner. She was just a few steps again from the sacks when suddenly she saw a black thing stuck out from behind one of the sacks.

She blinked.

'What's that black thing that I just saw?' she thought, moving closer. The surprise that engulfed her had gone since a moment ago. Feeling curious, she kneeled in front of the sack, watching the long shape black thing swaying here and there. And on the next second…

GRAB!

She grabbed the black furry thing and pulled it out from the little hole that was created between the wall and the sack. She pulled the thing out from it hiding place, revealing a bigger shape that connected to the long black furry thing. Feeling that the thing was resisting going out from its hiding place, Mikan pulled it a little harder and…

…

She blinked twice, seeing the 'thing' in front of her.

It's black and there's a pair of ruby-colored orbs which was standing out among the black color fur that enveloped its whole surface.

It's a black cat.

"A…cat…?" Mikan muttered in confusion while the thing that she just found struggling to free from her grasp. Too bad for the cat, the brunette was holding his tail, causing him to hang upside down. And this situation wasn't too good for him.

"Who's that?"

'Darn!' Mikan quickly stood up, still holding the black cat's tail upside down in her right hand and the sacks in her left hand. She turned around to her back, just to meet with the royal chef that just went into the room.

"Princess? What are you doing here?" he asked in curious.

"Ah, that's…um…" she rolled her eyes while grinning nervously, searching for an excuse. 'Oh, what should I say?!'

MEOW…

As if a miracle happened, the black cat in her right hand meowed, attracting the two attentions to him.

Then it hit Mikan's head.

"Ah! I saw this black cat on the stair and followed him here! And I intended to pet him!" she said with a bright smile, hoping that the chef would believe her.

"Oh…And what will you do with the sacks in your other hand?" he asked while pointing to the brunette's left hand that was holding sacks.

"Um…This is…for the cat! Yeah! I'm planning to make his bed by using these sacks!" she lied again, smiling nervously. 'Oh, God, please let him believe me! I don't have any excuse again!'

The chef was thinking for a while, staring at their weird Princess. As if the God heard her pray, the chef finally smiled and said, "Do you really want a cat that badly until you want to prepare a bed for him by your own, Princess?"

Mikan nodded quickly, still with a smile on her face. The chef let out a chuckle before he said, "It's okay, Princess. I won't tell anyone about it."

Her smile widened, relieved because the chef didn't aware that she just lied. "Thanks!" she bowed her head and quickly strolled out from the royal kitchen to her bedroom.

'I owe you one, black cat,' she thought while looking at the black cat that was still hanging upside down in her hand, smiling. The cat just looked at her with annoyed face.

* * *

"Is this just fine?" the brunette asked the cat that was lying on her bed, hoping the cat would comment on her new looks.

New looks?

Yeah. She did some cutting and sewing on the sacks, turning it into a simple clothes. She needed it for her disguise so she could get out from the palace without being noticed by the palace's residents.

She disguised as a beggar.

The cat stared at her with a bored face. On the next second, he let out a small yawn then put his head on the bed and closed his eyes, making the brunette fumed in irritation.

Without any cue, she lifted the black cat from the bed and embraced it in her arms. Of course, the cat went mad and scratched her bare arms at that time, earning a silent yelp from the brunette. "Little cat, please cooperate with me. I have to get out from here so I could search for the Prince," she whispered at the cat, which surprisingly stopping the cat from scratching her and stayed silent in her embrace. She smiled at this.

Mikan went to the balcony in her room and saw a way down from a tree that grew near her balcony. The black cat suddenly jumped off from her arms to the tree branch and landed on the grassy ground smoothly.

He's a cat after all.

Didn't want to lose from a cat, the brunette jumped to the tree and managed to hang on the branch with her hands. After a few seconds, she let go off her grasp on the branch and landed on the ground smoothly like she always did before.

She was glad that she's not a girly girl like most of the princess did. Since she's still a little girl, she liked playing boys' game, like climbing the tree, playing with frog, etc, etc.

Mikan smiled triumphantly at the cat in front of her before she bent down and carried him in her arms again. She was about to move from her spot when suddenly…

"WHO'S THERE?!"

'Darn it!'

--To be continued--

**illutia mist: WOOHOO! 1****ST**** CHAPTER IS FINISHED!! (Lifting her arms to the air)**

**Mikan: (Clapping) Congratulations, illutia.**

**illutia mist: (Teary-eyed) Thanks, Mikan! (Whispers) I'm happy that you're not torturing me in this chit-chat room.**

**Mikan: (Tilting her head) Are you saying something?**

**illutia mist: (Smiles) Nothing.**

**Mikan: So, you'll do the 2****nd**** chapter too?**

**illutia mist: No. Ceres will do it. In the meantime, I can get some rest. And I won't be hit by Natsume in every chapter! YIPPIE!**

**SMACK!**

**illutia mist: (Rubbing her sore head…again…) HEH! WHAT'S THAT FO-**

**Natsume: (Walking away) For can't hitting your head for a chapter.**

**illutia mist: (Forming a fist in front of her) I'll get you back for this!!**

**Natsume: (Stops walking then glancing at illutia from the corner of his eyes) If you could. (Then walking away)**

**illutia mist: (Flailing her arms desperately) Oh yeah! I could!**

**Mikan: (Shakes her head) That two will never get along. (Smiles) Anyway, thank you for reading, good readers. Please review!**

**illutia mist: I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR SURE, NATSUME!!**

**Mikan: (Rolls her eyes) Oh my…**


	2. A Pair of Ruby

_(illutia mist) Last chapter:_

_She disguised as a beggar._

_Didn't want to lose from a cat, the brunette jumped to the tree and managed to hang on the branch with her hands. After a few seconds, she let go off her grasp on the branch and landed on the ground smoothly like she always did before._

_Mikan smiled triumphantly at the cat in front of her before she bent down and carried him in her arms again. She was about to move from her spot when suddenly…_

_"WHO'S THERE?"_

_'Darn it!'_

* * *

Disclaimer: …I'll let illutia do it every odd chapter (...Behold, the laziness of me.)

* * *

Cee: Is it my chapter now?

Okay then, let's move on. Sit back and enjoy…

-x-

* * *

**Rice Sack Princess**

By illutiamist and cerespallas

**Chapter Two: A pair of Ruby**

* * *

-x—

Mikan saw two guards marched toward her. Without any further thought, she turned around and fled from them.

"Hey! You, stop!"

The girl moved her feet as fast as she could, running from her own guards. As if the situation hadn't been silly enough, her newly made clothes started rubbing on her skin. Now she knew why there was no history of rice sacks that had been used as a dress material.

_Ouch! Itch! Itch! My skin's all itchy! Aargh! _

She tried her best to ignore the itch that started crawling to her entire sack-clothes-exposed skin. Instead, she focused on fleeing. Mikan would never exceed the record as the world's fastest runner, but she certainly had been experienced enough for running away from her own guards. Why; it's her best talent after all. With a king as a father and a hundred or so employees, she had mastered the proficiency a long time ago. Avoiding classes and hiding from everyone was no easy task.

The princess stopped in front of the main gate, waiting for her guards to catch up with her. In the darkness of the night and only the dimmest of lanterns to light the castle yard, her features were unrecognizable. She dropped the cat near her feet and stood in silence, facing the gate door, waiting for the unavoidable contact.

One of the guards had stopped behind her, his hand gripping her shoulder. "You! Who are-"

He never finished his words. One of Mikan's hands palmed her other fist and she threw back her elbow with reinforced power. She hit the guard on the nose, turned her upper body and jabbed the guard's abdomen with her fist, right on his liver. The man fell backwards, unconscious.

Mikan crouched down when another guard swung his sword to slash her. She hurled her foot to his ankle and stood up, studying the wobbly guard in front of her. He had lost his balance. She inhaled deeply and bit her lip, before tossing her feet to his genital, successfully knocking him down.

"Wow," murmured the renegade (and now you might call her callous) princess. She had never thought that her self-defence skill, the one that her martial-art teacher had taught her, would work at a time like this. And to victimize her own guards! Somehow the irony of hurting two loyal soldiers that had been vowing to protect her made her feel guilty.

She shrugged, sweeping the feeling away while crouching down and searching for the gate key in the guard's pocket. She finally got what she was looking for in his chest pocket, carefully pulling it out and standing up, making sure not to make a noise.

Mikan turned to the gate door and slid the key, unlocking the gate. She felt something brush against her ankle and looked down. Smiling, she bent down and picked up the black cat that had been staring at her.

"You're not so cute, aren't you?" Mikan teased the cat. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he rolled his eyes. But that was impossible, right? Cradling the cat to her chest, she slowly opened the gate door, only slightly, enough to slide herself out.

-x—

-x—

She looked up and sulked when she saw the sky was beginning to get brighter. It must be half an hour to dawn. Absent-mindedly caressing the black cat she carried in her arms, Mikan realized she was sleepy.

Wait, she was wrong. She was very, extremely, undeniably, sleepy…

Yawning, Mikan cuddled the cat tighter. She was walking on the edge of the forest, far from a pavement connecting the road between her castle and another city. She couldn't let herself get caught now, and that would happen if she paraded herself by walking in the pavement road.

If she had remembered correctly, there was a small village just ahead. She saw the village often in between her astronomy lesson, peeking at the village with her enormously huge telescope. She often wished she was the village kid, happily running around and playing with her brothers and sisters. Mikan has always been sour to the fact that she was the only daughter of the most important man in the country. That had brought her in a level no one was ever dared to approach. She loved her country and her people, but she had often dreamed about being an adventurer, freely venturing to all the places she ever wanted.

_I am in some kind of adventure of my own now, am I?_

Mikan yawned, her eyes almost shuttered close when she reached the outskirts of the village. The village was really small. Her eyes were scanning five houses and one small barn, fully loaded with hay to the point where the door couldn't be closed anymore and being left open. The houses were all made from stacked burnt stone, the easiest material people could get to build any structure in this country. The roofs were made from any sizes of forest woods and carefully jointed to each other with long nails. There were no painted houses; all of them were brown in the natural colour of the stone. It was early dawn so there was no activity in the village, everyone were still fast asleep.

Mikan gave out a sigh as she walked inside the barn. At first she had been enticed to knock on one of the houses and asked for a meal and nice set of clothes, but looking down to a ragged sack wrapping her body, she figured she might as well just took a nap in the barn and sneaked out of the village when everyone woke up. One or two hours of nap in the sea of hay sounded perfect.

The last thing Mikan thought about before she slumped herself in the hay-bed and closed her eyes was: that she had to be as fast as possible, to save the prince. If she failed to rescue him herself and he was killed, her country's primary needs of clothing and meat would be in great danger.

The black cat in her arms was studying his sleeping companion. His eyes softened when he saw her breathing went steady and she let out a small smirk on her lips, probably dreaming about something happy. Then, when the creature noticed that it was dawn, he looked to the sky outside the barn door.

The sun had begun to rise.

The cat silently released himself from her grasp, walking to the edge of the barn, where the sunlight shone through and its red light illuminated the hay floor. The moment his body bathed in the warm light of the morning sun, the black cat trembled.

He shut his eyes, accepting the familiar force inside of him. He was painfully aware of the effect of the sun to his body, and he rejoiced every bit of sun and light, bathing him in cursed bliss.

The process of his usual 'morning ceremony' always fascinated him. It took no longer than two minutes to be _who_ he was under the watchful eyes of the beautiful sun, not _what_ he was under the rigid stare of the cursed moon. His small and furry paw turned into human hands and feet, his perked up ear formed into human ears. His tail was lost. His small and lithe body grew large and muscled, the body of a human male.

When he opened his ruby eyes and stared down to his own naked body, he couldn't help but wondered in what mess he had gotten himself into.

The raven haired boy put his hands to his hip, turning to see Mikan Sakura, the princess of a castle he had been living in all this time, still sleeping.

_Well…._ He thought, _first I have to find clothes for myself first. _

What was in his head when he decided to follow the impulsive princess? Maybe it was just a curiosity; maybe it was a need of a laugh. If you saw a princess that had been too brave for her own good, too stupid to think about her unplanned action thoroughly and certainly not the most intelligent among all princesses to use rice sacks as her disguise costume, you were bound to follow her. Just to see what kind of mess and idiocy she would trap herself into.

Or maybe, it was for the way she patted his head and talked to him as if he was important, even when he was not in his human form. Because she caressed his fur and held his head close to her heart, letting him listening to her soft heartbeat when she walked.

The boy looked around, thinking that if he would like to join in this crazy adventure, he would have to make an alibi. And considering his _special circumstances_, it had to be a good one.

-x—

-x—

She stirred herself awake, mumbling and turning a bit before realizing where she was. Mikan looked up straight to the barn ceiling. She was still tired. Her skin itched, from the part where the sack was wrapping her body, to the unexposed skin that was beginning to follow the example of the suffered part. There was nothing more seducing for her right now than to be in her palace bed, sleeping through the days.

She let her eyes flutter close once more.

"Will you stop sleeping now?"

Her eyes snapped open. She sat up, turning her head to the door, where the voice came from.

A boy in her age was sitting near the door. One of his arms was resting on his knee, the other twirling the stack of hays lying beside him. His eyes were red in colour and sparkling bright, almost to the point of a burning fire. His hair was black, framing his lithe face and pale skin. He was using a casual sleeveless white shirt and black long pants; she often saw village kids wore similar clothes as work clothes.

He was staring back at her, and then Mikan noticed something she should have noticed before.

A black cat was sleeping on his lap. Her eyes grew wide as she hurriedly stood up and walked to him. She crouched near him and collected the cat in her arms. The cat was not moving neither waking from the sudden movement; instead it curled up nicely and purred at the warmth of her chest.

Mikan frowned. Did she was just imagining this or did the cat felt lighter? She didn't think that the cold and calculating cat she carried yesterday was actually sweet, and even huggable like this. Something was wrong. Or perhaps she was just too tired to notice that the cold cat could be nice too. The cat had to be tolerant; he was a kitchen palace cat after all.

She turned to the boy. "Thank you. I-um… this cat is mine. Did he cause you any trouble?"

The boy shrugged. "No."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Mikan kept her stare at the boy until he stood up. The boy stared back at her. "Why are you sleeping here?" he finally asked. Mikan stood up as well.

"I… I'm looking for something," she meekly answered.

"The goods are in the house, not in the barn." Natsume crossed his arms. "Unless you are eating hay, Polka."

Mikan tilted her head, confused. "Polka?"

Natsume arched his brow, pointing down to her body. Mikan looked down and screamed.

Her polka dot panty was there, not being covered by her clothes. Because her rice-sack clothes was rolling up to her stomach when she fumbled around in her sleep, and stayed there just like all the good ragged old sack did. Her face was dark red when she pulled her clothes down and covering her underwear, glaring at the boy. The village boy now sported an amused look in his cold-looking face.

"That was… so-" she struggled to put the right word, "pervert!"

He opened his mouth to say: "…Polka."

"Pervert!" yelled Mikan, refusing to back down.

"Whatever you say, Polka."

"Aargh!" Mikan sulked, pushing the boy and walking out to the village. The boy followed her out. "Don't follow me!"

"If you haven't noticed, Polka, there is only one way out."

"I am not Polka!" Mikan turned to the boy, glaring him with something she always thought as a death glare. Truthfully, her glare was pretty measly to be deadly. "My name is Mikan! Mikan Sa-" she bit her lip, looking away. "Just Mikan."

She failed to see him rolling his eyes.

The villagers were looking at them as they walked by, doing their daily work. But thinking that the girl was a beggar and the boy was an ordinary boy from a nearby village, they didn't care to listen. Mikan and the boy stood facing each other in front of the barn, everyone else just walked passed by.

"If you are looking for a place to beg, this isn't the right one," the boy finally said. Mikan frowned, then realizing that her clothes and messy appearance made her look like a beggar. "There's a castle just nearby, if you want to work they will hire you."

Her eyes widened. "No!"She hurriedly added, "I mean… I just came from there. They uh-kicked me out and uh-will kill me if I go back there!" She hugged the sleeping cat tighter, hands trembling for making up excuses and her eyes looking away. "They'll kill me and my cat!"

Meanwhile, the boy tried not to sigh and moan about her lack of incompetency to lie.

_If this is what she will do during the journey, her 'tour' will end as soon as it begins. What a fool… doesn't she know how to pretend? Do I have to do it all by myself?_

Deciding that he wouldn't play a part in a stupid line of excuses, he finally chose to give her a way to flee. "There is also a city nearby, but not as close. I'm planning to go there today to look for a job."

Mikan looked at him, her eyes glimmering with hope.

"The journey won't be easy," said the boy again, knowing that the Princess wouldn't care about the fact even one bit. "It took days to go through a jungle, that's the fastest way." He now waited for her to take the bait.

"Can I come with you?" Oh yeah, she did take the bait very quickly.

He waited for a bit to make a bolder statement, as if he was considering it. Then he said, "as long as you find our food."

"Yes!" She was _very_ easy as a target. "I'll hunt for us! Please? Please?"

Seriously, if she was this easy to bait, he wondered how come _she_ was not the one who got kidnapped.

"Alright," he pretended to sigh. He turned around, walking to the outskirts of the town. The beggar princess was spiritedly following along.

"Hey!" she said. "What's your name?"

"…Natsume," said the boy, not looking back at her.

"Natsume what?"

"Hyuuga. Natsume Hyuuga."

"Hello, Natsume!" greeted Mikan with glee, as if she just met him a few minutes ago. Well, they did meet each other in human form just a few minutes ago… "I'm glad to be your journey partner. And the cat, too!" She pointed to the cat sleeping in her other arms, but Natsume couldn't care less. He kept walking away. "Mamoru was pleased to meet you too!"

Natsume halted his feet, stopping halfway. He turned to the girl, his eyes full of question and unrecognizable feeling. "Mamoru?"

"Mamoru." Mikan grinned, showing her white teeth. "That means guardian. He will be my guardian throughout this journey!" She started pacing toward him. Natsume still stood there as she passed him, walking to the outskirts.

His eyes softened. He watched her from behind as she was skipping on her feet. Obviously she was happy about having a travel partner.

"Yes, he will," muttered the boy, when the girl was far from hearing range. "Mamoru, huh…?"

-x—

-x—

"Just do it."

She looked up, almost in the verge of crying. "I can't."

"Just do it. Shove it in and deal with it." Natsume said with a calm tone. He was not supposed to be calm, they had been discussing this since an hour ago and they still didn't get to a conclusion. "Once. Just once and I won't tell you to do it again."

"I can't…" Mikan bowed her head, wiping her tears away with her only free hand.

"You do it or I'll force it to you."

"Please…" she said, her voice trembling. "I can't…"

Natsume counted to ten before crouched next to her. He snatched away the rabbit in her arms and rose up his pocket knife to the pitiful creature. The rabbit was struggling to get himself free and making crying sounds only a near-death animal could do.

"Nooo!" Mikan tried to snatch the rabbit back from him, but Natsume evaded her with ease. "Please… we don't have to eat him!"

They were in the jungle, and they had caught the rabbit an hour ago. Mikan had successfully become the worst hunter throughout the history, endlessly making squeal and cute sounds when she saw a rabbit or squirrel walked right through their trap. Of course, she had been the reason why their food sources noticed the set-in trap (or the idiotically squealing girl) and ran away. After a few (hundred or more) deep breaths to himself, reminding himself that he wouldn't by any lucky accident set _the girl_ on fire, Natsume caught one rabbit. In five minutes.

And the rest of the afternoon had been spent on the case of saving the rabbit (by Mikan) or stabbing the meal and filling their empty stomach (by a more reasonable, the one that had been saving her ass a lot more than he wanted to, Natsume). Meanwhile, the rabbit had cried and struggled to get free. The creature himself had been doing all the tricks he knew. Starting from pretended to be dead (Natsume had said that now they can eat it without her feeling guilty), trembled and looking at them in the cutest way possible (which had been causing Mikan to squeeze it to his near-death), or cried and tried to say something in human words (in which the creature, understandably, had failed to do and had been making the human debates went even longer).

It was not that the rabbit did not understand why the girl kept holding on him, instead of letting him free if she really wanted him to escape his death. The creature himself knew he was simply the cutest and sweetest thing anyone ever seen. But seriously, holding him so he wouldn't escape and now ended making him fall into the hand of the boy was cruel.

Natsume cringed when he felt the familiar force inside him. He looked up to the sky in horror when the girl kept crying and begging for him, to let the cute thing alive. Mamoru the cat was sleeping soundly beside her. He had been waking up for a while when Natsume caught the rabbit, but when he knew he wouldn't get the meal anytime soon, he went to his dormant sleep again and waited for them to wake him for his dinner.

Natsume saw it. The sun was setting down.

It was dusk.

He threw the rabbit to Mikan's surprised arms and grabbed Mamoru's tail. Natsume swiftly stood up with the cat and ran away, leaving Mikan shouting;

"Natsume? Where are you going? Don't grab Mamoru by his tail! Natsume!"

The boy vanished from sight, leaving the sound of surprised and scared meowing from Mikan's cat that had vanished along with him between the vastness of trees.

Mikan sat dumbfounded in the same spot and tilted her head. She had no idea what happened. Pouting, she looked down and smiled to the relieved looking rabbit in her arms.

"You're saved, bunny!" She smiled, kissing the rabbit's head. The rabbit stared at her, but the creature himself couldn't stop himself from thinking when he saw the sky above her head.

The moon was appearing.

The light from it shone, illuminating them.

And there was one word in the rabbit's head.

_Crap._

-x—

TBC


	3. Another Companion

**The sky was blue-No, scratch that. It's boring to always use the same blue sky over and over again. Let's change to…Ah, the sky was gloomy today. And its color suited a certain girl's mood at that time.**

**Mikan: (Looking at illutia) …**

**illutia mist: (Glaring at nowhere in front of her) …**

**Mikan: What's wrong with that terrible face?**

**illutia mist: (Glances at Mikan in annoyance) You know what happened.**

**Mikan: (Tilts her head) Uh…Because Natsume hit your head again?**

**illutia mist: Humph! I even haven't gotten him back for hit my head on the first chapter.**

**Mikan: (Shrugs) Well, it's him anyway, the Mr. Highly and Almighty And I'll Hit You If I Feel Like It.**

**illutia mist: (Murmurs) Correct.**

**Mikan: Let me guess. He must be saying something about You don't own us and Gakuen Alice and its other characters? And that you don't own the folklore legend so don't mess with it?**

**illutia mist: (Narrows her eyes) Correct. Me and ceres just mess with it…a little…I thought…**

**Mikan: Live with it. It's his attitude since the first time he appeared. Plus, he got a new hobby now.**

**illutia mist: (Glances at Mikan) What?**

**Mikan: Hit you on the head.**

…

…

**illutia mist: …I hate that new hobby of his…**

_**Last chapter (cerespallas):**_

"Hyuuga. Natsume Hyuuga."

"You're saved, bunny!" she smiled, kissing the rabbit's head. The rabbit stared at her, but the creature himself couldn't stop himself from thinking when he saw the sky above her head.

_Crap._

**Chapter 3: Another companion**

The rabbit stared at the moon in horror.

Mikan fixed her gazes at the rabbit, thinking that she felt him trembling in her embrace. And for the first time, she realized that the eye color of the white rabbit wasn't the same with the usual white rabbit should have, which was red.

It was cerulean.

While she was deep in her thought, the rabbit jumped down from her embrace. The sudden action of him brought the brunette back from her trance. "What's wrong, bunny?" she asked as she bent down, reaching out her hands to embrace the rabbit again.

The little creature was about to run when he suddenly felt something starting to react in his tiny body. The moment Mikan touched his fur, she could feel him trembling again, worsen than before. "Bunny?"

What happened on the next second surprised the brunette.

Right when the moon was appeared completely and its dim light shone upon them in the dark night, the little creature started to grow.

Grow…

Maybe that's not an exact term for the metamorphosis that she witnessed at that time.

The rabbit's small body grew bigger. Its paws also grew too and changed into the slender hands and legs of human. Its round furry tail was gone. A pair of its long white ears shrunk and turned into a pair of human's ears. The white fur that covered his whole body was gone. Instead, it was replaced by the pale color of human's skin; while the fur on his head part grew longer than before, reaching his neck, and the color changed into a blonde one.

The brunette was wide-eyed and speechless, seeing the thing that happened before her hazel eyes just a second ago. It's indeed not a usual thing that happened everyday.

As the metamorphosis was over, she snapped out from her trance and observed the newly creature in front of her whose back was facing her at that time. Seeing the short blonde hair, broad shoulder and back, one thing popped in her head.

Boy.

The simple one word had a hard time to be absorbed by her mind, considering that the what-she-thought-now a boy in front of her at that time was a little cute creature named rabbit just a few minutes ago. Still didn't believe of what she just saw, she continued to observe him, and found out that he had stopped trembling, not like a while ago.

But somehow, he didn't move from his spot. He even didn't make any tiny gesture.

And this condition lasted for a quite long heck of time in an eerie silence between them under the moonlight. Both of them were hesitant to start the conversation.

But it didn't last forever when a quite cold night wind suddenly blew passing them. The naked boy trembled slightly at the freezing feeling that pierced through his exposed skin to his bone. Before the brunette could ask anything to him, he ran from the place into the darkness of the forest, leaving her there, alone.

Wait.

Alone?

Mikan gazed around, scanning the trees that surrounded the place where she was standing at that time. The eerie silence came again and this time she was alone. Where were her companions?

…

Talking about the companions, she remembered what happened before the rabbit changed into a boy.

Natsume brought her only companion with her.

No. Scratch the brought part.

He KIDNAPPED him!

Rustle! Rustle!

Mikan trembled slightly upon hearing the sound. She scanned her surrounding once again, hoping that it wasn't a ghost or anything.

Darkness and thunder are her weaknesses anyway.

She could hallucinate something unrealistic when the darkness came engulfing her. Worsened if there were thunders accompanying the darkness. She hated both of them. It's a good one that the palace was always bright.

There was one time when the palace lights were all out and she screamed through the whole place in palace just to get the King comforting and spending the whole night with her.

Rustle! RUSTLE!

Mikan snapped her head to the mystery sound's direction, feeling tenser each time the second passed.

RUSTLE! RUSTLE! RUSTLE!

The sound went nearer to the place where she was standing at that time. Mikan thought she saw a shadow between the trees in front of her moving to her direction. She gulped at her thinking what it might be.

And then she felt a light tap on her right shoulder. Her face went pale then…

"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

The ear-piercing sound of her was heard throughout the jungle, sending a few ravens flew away from their respected nest. And not to mention, shocking the poor figure that was suspected as the cause of the killer sound.

"GHOOOOOSSSSTTTT! NO! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! I NEVER DISTURB YOU!" was her panic shouting while she was running in a circle.

The figure just sweat dropped at her extreme reaction. "Eh, ano, I'm not a ghost," the figure said, stopping her from the crazy-circle-running after a few minutes.

The brunette turned her head slowly to the owner of the voice and found a boy at her age staring at her in worry as well as hesitant. Unconsciously, she trailed her eyes through his whole performance.

The boy had blonde-colored hair and a pair of cerulean eyes. His face looked like a fragile one, giving him an image of a pretty boy. His hair was a little messy. He wore an already worn-out cloth, but it's enough to protect him from the night cold air.

The boy felt eerie being stared in silence. "Uh, sorry, if I have scared you. I think I better go now," he said as he turned to his back, intending to get away from there.

Then it struck her.

His back appearance was so familiar to her. She was sure she ever saw the figure. One word that she uttered at that time was…

"…Bunny?"

He abruptly stopped on his way after hearing the single word from the brunette's lips. He turned around to face her and found that she was waiting for an answer. He heaved a sigh and muttered, "so you realized…"

Mikan froze for a second and asked again, "…you're really the bunny?"

The boy let a small smile played on his lips, a submit one. "If I say no, will you believe me?" he asked back.

The brunette fell silenced for a while before she answered, "just a bit. I believe that you're the bunny because the appearance of your back is the same with him when he turned into a human. And your eyes are cerulean too." A soft chuckle was escaped from his lips as he heard her simple-minded thinking.

But she was right.

"If I still say no?" he asked jokingly.

The brunette put a finger on her chin. Tilting her head cutely, she replied, "I believe in my feeling, Mr. Bunny."

He chuckled again, "as I thought."

Smiling, she asked again, "what's your name?"

He returned her smile and answered, "Ruka. Ruka Nogi,"

RUSTLE! RUSTLE!

"…Wha-what is that?" Mikan stuttered while glancing around the place; her hands clutched her chest tightly.

Opposite from her, Ruka observed the trees and brushes calmly as he assured her, "don't worry. I'm here." His eyes caught moving bushes at the right direction from them. He approached the bushes and found a pair of crimson orbs staring at him.

The brunette saw him knelt in front of the bushes and started to feel curious at what he's doing there. She approached him from behind, "what's wrong?"

The blonde-haired lad stood up right when Mikan stopped behind him. He turned around to face her. Something was struggling in his hands. Mikan trailed her gazes from his eyes down to his hands. There, she saw a familiar figure that she had searching for.

"Mamoru!" she gasped in joy as she took the Black Cat in her hands, freeing Ruka from the claw attacks. "Are you okay? Where did that Natsume take you?"

She stared at him for a few seconds and then realized something. "Talking about that pervert guy, where is he?" she asked, not releasing her gazes from the cat as if she wanted him to answer her question, which was an absolutely impossible fact. But she didn't fail to notice that the cat rolling his crimson eyes at this.

Being realistic, she thought it was just her imagination and shrugged it off from her mind.

"Maybe he has left me behind…" she murmured as she held the cat closer and put his head on the crook of her neck.

Ruka had watched her since she took the black cat from him. And when she said that, he noticed the sad tone in her voice. Deciding to divert the gloomy situation that had started to engulf them, he blurted, "um…Are you hungry?"

The question reminded the girl that she hadn't eaten that night, for their should-be dinner was the rabbit which had turned into Ruka. She was glad that Natsume hadn't had any chance to slaughter the rabbit's neck and grill it, or she would have been a cannibal now.

Tugging her lips into a smile, she replied, "yeah. Do you know where we could get some foods?"

Ruka returned the smile. "Yeah."

Well, it wasn't that hard for him to search for foods in the jungle anyway, considering that he had been in this place for quite a long time.

* * *

It had been late at night when Mikan and Ruka had finished eating their so-called dinner. No meat, just some fresh fruits from the forest that they had washed at the nearby lake they could find at that time.

Oh, and let's not forget about the Black Cat too. When he ate a pear-kind fruit, the brunette watched him in silence. She was quite amazed that a cat also ate fruits too. Before, she thought a cat just attracted to fish. But she swore that she saw a flicker of annoyance in his eyes when she tried to feed him. And after that, he looked away and finished his own food, ignoring her.

She also realized that the Black Cat was much more difficult to be handled at night than at day. At day, the cat was more quiet and calm. He spent most of the time with curling and sleeping in her embrace. It was cute of him to act like the usual cat would act. But at night, he wasn't cute at all. And sometimes, the way he looking at her, strangely, almost the same with someone called…Natsume.

What a strange cat.

So, here they were, sitting near the lake that they had found earlier and watching the moon's reflection on its clear surface in silence. Ruka sat beside Mikan with a meters distance between them. The Black Cat laid comfortably on the soft grass between Ruka and the brunette.

The silence that engulfed them at that time reminded the brunette about something that she wanted to ask before. She glanced at the blonde-haired boy beside him, admiring his beautiful figure.

Yeah, he's beautiful. Moreover when he was under the illumination of the moon.

…

She shook her head inwardly, shrugging the beautiful thing from her mind. For a second, she thought that Ruka was beautiful!! He's a boy for God's sake!!

"Ne, Ruka," she started a conversation, breaking off the silence as well as chasing away the strange thought of her just now.

Ruka turned his head at her. "Hm?"

"Are you a magical creature?" she asked with a serious face while fixing her gazes at the lad.

Ruka blinked once then twice. Then he suddenly burst into laughter. The brunette blinked when she saw him laughing, not understand why. A few seconds later, his laugh subsided into a soft laugh. Lifting his head, he looked at the brunette with a smile on his face. "No, I'm not. I'm a human since I was born."

A big mark question appeared on the brunette's head when she heard this. "Then, what about the rabbit form of yours?"

Upon hearing the question, his smile turned into a sad one. "Because my family was cursed."

The brunette turned speechless for a while, absorbing his answer. "Curse?"

Ruka nodded. "Yeah. My ancestors were servants for a family. Everything was fine until one day, they did a big mistake to the family's head of household."

The curiosity engulfed the brunette. "Mistake?" she asked. The topic also attracted a certain black cat's attention. He had already felt bored until they brought up the topic. He fixed his crimson eyes at the blonde-haired boy beside him.

The lad moved his gazes to the lake in front of them. "The family was known because of their powerful magic. They considered my ancestors had done a big mistake and they gave them a curse," he explained, his eyes were unreadable. "The curse is we will turn into a rabbit from the dawn until dusk…And this curse will keep going on until there's no other heir in our family."

After he finished his story, Mikan felt a little sad for him. "Oh…I'm sorry to hear that…"

A soft chuckle came out from his lips. He fixed his gazes back at her again. His cerulean eyes were looking at her softly. "You don't have to feel sorry about that. It's not you that cursed us anyway."

Joining him, the brunette laughed softly, lifting the gloomy pressure when the story was told a while ago.

However, a certain Black Cat didn't make any sound that night, even a little mew. Instead, he heard the story seriously, for he knew that the blonde-haired lad was in the same situation with him.

* * *

It was midnight and the moon was still shining dimly up there, in the dark sky.

Mikan was staring at the moon from a branch of a nearby tree. She had her back leaning on the trunk while the Black Cat was lying peacefully on her lap.

She shifted her gazes from the moon to a certain boy under a tree, which was opposite from the tree she was sitting on at that time.

Ruka was sleeping quietly on the soft grass, he didn't feel disturbed by anything. He had lived in this jungle for years anyway, so he would know if there was a danger approaching them. He slept peacefully, meant that it was safe at that time.

The brunette heaved a sigh, a tired one.

She couldn't sleep for she suddenly remembered about the palace's residents. She guessed that they must have been panic when they found out their one and only princess had suddenly gone. She also hoped that her father wouldn't punish the two guards that she fought in her effort to get out from the palace.

She thought about what had happened during the first day on her journey. She must deal with her 'unique' costume, which made her itchy almost all day. She slept in the barn, on a hay-bed. She met Natsume…

Thinking about him, she wondered where he had gone.

Did he really have left her to his destination?

What she remembered was he grabbed Mamoru by the tail and ran away without saying anything, leaving her behind.

Though she was glad that because of his unexplainable act, Ruka was saved.

But somehow, she felt lonely. He had been her second companion anyway, the first human that accompanied her in her journey. He was also her only 'map', considering that she wasn't familiar with the places outside the castle.

And now he's gone.

Mikan sighed again while running her hand through the cat's black fluffy fur. Her moves made the cat opened his eyelids and lifted his head, looking at the brunette with his crimson eyes that were shining brightly under the moon.

The brunette smile and muttered, "sorry. Did I wake you up?"

The cat didn't say anything, even a soft mew like usual cat. He kept staring at her, though it didn't make her feeling uncomfortable.

She lifted the cat gently and embraced him, feeling his soft fur on the crook of her neck. "Ne, where do you think that Natsume guy go? You're with him at that time, right?"

Knowing that the cat wouldn't answer, which would freak people out if he could, she pulled the cat back gently and stared at him. Her hazel eyes met his crimson one. Somehow, she felt something familiar in his stare once again.

Like Natsume…

She blinked then shook her head. 'Why did I think about that guy anyway?' she thought as she stared back at the cat. He was still staring at her.

Still having her eyes on the little creature, she brought him near her face. "…Ne, you won't leave me, right?" she asked again, though once again she knew it was a stupidest thing in this world for the cat couldn't talk and she just asked him again.

The Black Cat didn't answer her question of course. But one of his tiny paws, which was recognized as his hand, was lifted and placed on her cheek. He moved his paw up and down gently, caressing her cheek, as if he tried to cheer her up.

The brunette couldn't help but let out a smile on her face, touching by the cat's good willing. "You're trying to cheer me up? Thank you," she muttered softly. She brought the cat's head closer to her and kissed the tip of his nose gently. It's just for a few seconds though. And when she pulled back, she thought she saw a pink tinge across his face.

That, if her eyes didn't fool her, she had already felt sleepy at that time. She put the cat back on her lap and leaned her head on the trunk. Closing her eyes, she went into her deep slumber.

But what she didn't realize was…

Her eyes didn't fool her…

* * *

The day changed and the sun was shining brightly. Its light even pierced through the eyelids of a certain brunette that was still in her slumber, urging her to wake up.

The problem was: it's not only the bright that urged her to wake up, but her temporary costume also cooperated with the sun.

She suddenly felt itchy again…

And maybe not only those two things that insisted her to wake up from her slumber.

"Oi."

That one too.

"Oi, little girl. Wake up."

She stirred but still had her eyes closed.

"You better wake up now or I'll leave you, Polka."

Mikan directly shot her eyes opened. "PERVERT!!" she launch a punch to whoever in front of her, hoping that it would teach the pervert a lesson.

And of course, it missed.

"Is that how you greet your companion?"

Mikan blinked, seeing a pair of leather shoes in front of her. 'Why is this sound so familiar?' she thought as she trailed her eyes from the shoes up to the stranger's face.

…Which was not a complete stranger to her.

"Natsume?" she called in disbelieve when she spotted the familiar raven hair and crimson eyes. "…is that really you?"

The mentioned boy rolled his eyes in bored. "Yes, little girl. It's me."

Happiness engulfed her as she learnt that the raven-haired lad didn't leave her. But then, the one that appeared on her face was a pout. "Why did you suddenly leave me yesterday?" she asked. "And you let Mamoru walked by himself after you brought him to nowhere and dumped him?!"

Natsume sat down, fixed his gazes on her and answered, "some errands to do. I unintentionally brought that cat with me and I didn't have time to return him, so I let him find the way by himself."

The black cat on her lap stirred a little, bringing her attention to him.

That's when she realized that she wasn't on the tree branch again.

She was under the tree.

"Eh? How did I get here?" she asked as she looked up to the tree branch. "I thought I slept up there last night."

The lad in front of her raised an eyebrow. "And you risked your life, stupid. I brought you down."

Mikan snapped back her attention to him. A vein popped on her head. "Well, it's-"

RUSTLE!

The sound cut off her sentence as well as brought her attention to its direction.

There, she saw a white rabbit just went out from the bushes, going to their direction. As the rabbit neared her, she saw his cerulean orbs and directly knew that he was Ruka.

"Ruka!" she called as she beamed at him.

Without thinking again, Mikan directly lifted the rabbit and hugged him, not aware that the rabbit was blushing furiously when she embraced him.

Looking at the what-he-called romantic moment in front of him, Natsume arched his eyebrows in irritation. He stood up on the next second and turned to his back, planning to walk away. "Eh? Where are you going?" Mikan suddenly asked, stopping him to walk further.

The raven-haired boy glanced from the corner of his eyes, didn't bother to turn back. "You want to be in this jungle forever? Well, I'm not," was what he said before he resumed walking away.

"Natsume! Wait!" she called as she put down the rabbit and stood up abruptly with the sleeping black cat in her embrace. Ruka poked her leg softly, attracting her attention down to him. "You want to go with us too?" the brunette asked, as if she knew what he wanted to say. He nodded once and that was enough for her to understand.

A smile crept on her face as she said, "Welcome to our group, Ruka."

* * *

"Na-Natsume…"

"Shut up."

"Bu-But…"

"Your whining voice disturbs me, Polka."

"Pervert!"

"Then shut up!"

The two…I mean…the three of them has finally arrived in the deeper part of the jungle. There were more trees and bushes and not to mention, swamps.

The brunette was scared for she always hallucinated there were ghost watching them every time they moved. She had already shrieked for half and an hour, her eyes were teary. She clutched the lad's sleeve tightly that he felt she would tear it apart just in a few seconds again. Her free hand carried the black cat closer to her that Natsume sure that the poor cat could die because of loss of oxygen in a few minutes again.

Ruka walked in front of them, leading them out from the woods. He's not afraid for he already knew the path and used to the circumstance's situation. He just always had a heart-attack every time the brunettes shrieked out loud. Her scream was really a killer one.

But what would happen later had never being predicted by them.

A shadow went out from the bushes in a high speed to Ruka's direction. The figure caught Ruka by his nape and went to a direction, running deeper into the woods.

"Tch!" Natsume grabbed Mikan's wrist and ran after the mysterious figure, didn't waste any time. He couldn't let their only hope to get out from the woods being taken away just like that.

They didn't know how long and how deeper they had gone. They kept following the figure until they arrived at an opening, which Natsume thought was in the middle of the jungle. A small house was stood steadily on the center of it. The door was opened a little.

Carefully, Natsume approached the house with the panting Mikan behind him. He pushed the door lightly, enough for him to peek inside.

And there he saw a bear standing on the center of the room, looking at them with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

--To be continued--

**SMACK!**

**illutia mist: (Turning her head angrily while touching the lump on her head) WHAT THE HE-!**

**Natsume: (Blowing his fist) Glad that I could smack you again.**

**illutia mist: (A vein pops on her head) I haven't gotten you back for what you have done to me in the first chapter.**

**Natsume: (Glances at illutia from the corner of his eyes) Need another smack?**

**illutia mist: (Crossing her arms) What did I do anyway?**

**Natsume: The story is the problem.**

**illutia mist: What? I thought me and ceres just took the basic from folklore but the story is almost totally different! Do you think there's a rabbit and cat in the folklore?**

**Natsume: No. But I don't like being the cat.**

**illutia mist: Ho? But your nickname is Black Cat in Gakuen Alice.**

**Natsume: That is that. This is this.**

**illutia mist: No, no, we're the authors. We decide.**

**Natsume: …Let me give you a gift for that.**

**illutia mist: Smack again? I rather have a board!**

**Natsume: And so here the board. (Takes out a board that appears mysteriously from nowhere)**

**illutia mist: (Eyes widened) Darn…**

**Natsume: (Smirks) Any last word?**

**illutia mist: Yeah! Thanks for reviewing our last chapters and thanks too for reading this chapter, good readers! Please review and now I need to go! (Running away in a flash of light)**

**Natsume: You won't get away, freaky author! (Chasing illutia)**


	4. The House of Dolls

_Last chapter (illutia mist):_

_He returned her smile and answered, "Ruka. Ruka Nogi."_

_A shadow went out from the bushes in a high speed to Ruka's direction. The figure caught Ruka by his nape and went to a direction, running deeper into the woods._

_They didn't know how long and how deeper they had gone. They kept following the figure until they arrived at an opening, which Natsume thought was in the middle of the jungle. A small house was stood steadily on the center of it. The door was opened a little._

_Carefully, Natsume approached the house with the panting Mikan behind him. He pushed the door lightly, enough for him to peek inside._

_And there he saw a bear standing on the center of the room, looking at them with a dangerous glint in his eyes._

* * *

-x-

Cee: …

…

...Yeah, I know, I'm not as cheery as Luti. Oh well… let's start.

-x—

* * *

**Rice Sack Princess**

By illutia mist and cerespallas

**Chapter Four: The House of Dolls**

* * *

-x—

Natsume blinked.

Dangerous glint …? Wait a minute.

It couldn't be.

It was a doll. A bear doll. Yeah, it was massive, it had the same height as him but it was just a doll. A very well made bear stuffed doll, from a brown cotton fabric. Two pair of black onyx button sewn as its eyes, a nose made from pink and white cotton, nicely sewn at its face. It had no mouth, standing motionless at the centre of the room, the right hand of the doll was holding (or perhaps glued to) a huge shiny machete. Daunting looking doll, it was.

Natsume opened the door wider, looking around the room.

The house was small, but it was very tidy and had some well kept furnishings. The material of the house and furniture was all wood. The room he was just about to enter was a living room, there was only one wooden table and two sets of chair rounding it. One high closet was placed near the table and several dinner wares were stacked on it. In another edge of the room, he saw an oven, medium sized fridge and two counters. It should be a kitchen area.

Mikan peeked inside, whispering, "Ruka?"

The crying sounds of the rabbit reached their ears. Mikan shouted, "Ruka! Where are you?" Both of them turned their heads to the back of the house, where the sound was heard through a door.

Mikan sprinted to the back door, leaving Natsume frowned in bewilderment.

_This is too easy,_ he thought as Mikan ran fleeting the bear doll to get to the back door. _It is too easy—_ he almost failed to see the doll turned in rapid motion and swung its axe to the girl. He shouted in panic, "Mikan! Watch—"

Without looking at her back, Mikan reflexively bent her body down and rolled forward, effectively evading the attack. She stopped her spin when her back met the wall, hurriedly scampered to a side when the bear swung the axe once more, crashing the wooden wall with a vast force.

Natsume jogged to the bear as it showed its back on him in order to hit the girl. He tackled the bear and knocking it down, trying to hold the doll on the ground as the bear effortlessly stood up and threw him to the wall by whipping its body around in fluid and fast motion.

At this point, Mamoru, who had been sleeping in Mikan's arms woke up and yelping in surprise, as the girl who was holding on him tightly skipped to the doll and, in one swift motion, skidded down to the floor and slid her foot with a quick kick to the bear's feet. Accepting the effort to knock him down in no grace, the bear fell down and almost crashing the Princess's body, had she not rolled her body to the side and kicked the bear's head.

The bear lay frozen on the floor for several seconds, as if thinking about its next act. Then it slowly stood up and stared at the pair. Mikan too, had stood up and stepped gradually in uncertain pace to Natsume, who had been raising his arms up in fighting stance and glared to the doll. The doll turned around, and with axe in hand, walking to the closet. It unlocked the closet with its free left hand and extracting a hidden piece of paper between the stacks of dinner wares. It turned to the pair and reached out, showing them the paper.

Mikan and Natsume glanced at each other. Then, Natsume said, "Let your cat take it."

Mikan glared heatedly, hugging crying Mamoru tenser. "No."

"Do it."

"Why don't you take it?"

Natsume raised his brow, retorting, "Why don't _you_?"

Mikan snarled, scoffing before putting Mamoru down. The sad cat looked up to her, his eyes full with accusation, as if he said in his meow, 'I can't believe you put me through this.'

"Mamoru," commanded Mikan gently, pointing to the doll a few feet away from them. "Take the paper from him for Mommy, okay?"

It wasn't in Natsume's natural manners to laugh, but he almost broke it in his face. _Mommy_? He looked away, hiding an amused look on his face.

Mamoru meowed, 'No! You're not my Mommy! My Mommy is a barn cat! You two kidnapped me!'

Mikan patted the cat's head, "Please, Mamoru? Do it for Mommy."

Meow. 'No. As I said Mommy is a barn cat. Nice attempt for brainwashing me, though.'

The girl said in a soothing tone, "Do not be afraid, it doesn't bite." She thought bitterly, _it does hex you, and since you're the smallest of us, you're more likely to survive._

The cat let out a noisy meow. 'I know this would happen sooner or later. You hold me in your death grip all the time and act so kissy-kissy on me with that sloppy mouth. That freak boyfriend of yours picked me up by my tail and dangled me on the tree overnight with only two rats for dinner. I'm a captive; I demand a better treatment than this! There is no way I would attest to be bait!'

"Pleaseeee…" Mikan whispered, "Or I'll have to do it. You don't want me to do it, don't you? Mommy might get hurt."

The cat snorted. 'And I'm not? Why does human always pick on the weaker creature? How come I have a human mom anyway?'

"I know you'll do it!" cheered Mikan, standing up and pointing to the waiting doll. "There, the paper."

Angry meow. 'I said no. Are you deaf or something, rice-sack girl?"

Natsume clamped his hand to his mouth, struggling so hard to hold his chuckle. He was cool and stoic. Cool and stoic, he had to remember his image. But it was kind of hard to keep his calm when the girl talked to the cat in such a deceptive ways and he understood both sides.

The doll couldn't wait anymore, so it crumpled the paper with both of its hands and threw it at Natsume's head.

Perfect score: it hit his head and the boy stopped himself from his own chuckle. He scoffed and turned to the bear while flatting the paper to look at it.

Mikan tilted her head to look at the letter in the paper.

* * *

_Dear my lovely friend._

_My dearest Bear, I know it was very lonely for you to be there all the time, by yourself. I wish I could stay back and live with you but I can't. The doctor said I will die if I spent my life power in order to infuse all of you with energy. It wasn't meant to be in the first place, he said._

_How long is it since I last saw you? Four years, I assume? Time has gone so slow in here, I was stuck on this bed with nothing to entertain me. Not every moment passed without me thinking of you, Bear. You are my first friend, my first creation and the first one to accept my life power. I still remember how happy I was when I realize I can create my own friend. They said my willpower is so strong that I sacrifice my age and life to create all of you._

_It is too long, and I know most of my friends there, the one I had created after you, each and every one of them, had long since passed away. Without me being there, there is no chance of them having their life energy. I know the only one who was still there, are you, because you are my first and you are very strong. I'm sorry for putting you through all of this, but I beg of you. Please, don't come here. Please, every time you come they are trying to kill you. They can't accept the idea of moving doll._

_I think my time will come soon. I'm very sorry I can't see you for the last time. I love you, Bear. I know you will still be around years and years after I'm gone. Be strong and please, forgive me for making you live this way._

_With love and regret, Kaname_

* * *

Natsume frowned when he saw the date on the letter, ignoring the girl on his side who was now crying very hard. It was written half a year ago.

He understood the doll's intention now.

Natsume looked at the doll, gesturing to the back door, where the faint sound of Ruka was still heard. "If we bring this Kaname to you, you'll give him back?"

The bear slowly nodded.

"But he's probably dead by now," said Natsume. "He can be buried six feet under, with no gravestone."

The doll motioned to the back door and made a hack motion with his axe.

Natsume rolled his eyes. "Bring back any of his remains or you'll behead the rabbit. Great. Why don't you do that now? We could always have some rabbit meat for lunch."

"Natsume!" Mikan smacked his arms. "Don't be so mean!" She turned to Bear. "We'll bring him back, Mr. Bear! You can count on us!"

Natsume scrunched up the paper and threw it to Mikan's forehead. The girl sulked. "One question." He said, "How in the hell do we search for him if we can't get out of here? We need pointers."

Bear pulled out another piece of paper from the cupboard and crumpled it, throwing it to Natsume. Now, the boy was quick to catch it. He smoothed the paper and realized that it was a map.

"See!" Mikan pointed to a city icon drawn near the forest. "Now we can find our way out."

"Of course," Natsume retorted sarcastically, "and we don't need that poor excuse of a human-rabbit for pointing our way out anymore, don't we?" He folded the paper and put it in his pocket before walking out of the house.

"Natsume!" Mikan shouted, hurriedly picking Mamoru up and running out. "You'll do it! Leaving Ruka here is so mean!"

"Actually it was not." Natsume walked to the path he now knew would take them out of the darn forest. "That creep was lonely and so does your rabbit-man. They belong together."

"Natsume!" Mikan caught up with him. "Please!"

"No."

-x—

* * *

-x—

He held her hands, walking together in the middle of the crowd. It was so hot in the middle of the day, and he couldn't see too far ahead without hurting his eyes, due to the blinding sun. The city was overcrowded and the minute they stepped inside the main plaza, he knew they would get lost unless they hold hands and moved together.

How could he say yes to this?

With a silent sigh, Natsume pulled the hobo-looking girl to his side and paced onward, pushing away the crowds, ignoring the curses he attained. Mikan clasped his hands tightly, walking silently at his side with her heads ducking very low. Natsume wondered if she was afraid anyone would identify her. That only made him paced faster.

It wasn't hard to figure out which one was the hospital. They had seen that giant grey building made of stone the minute they entered the city, it was only a matter of reaching it in the flesh.

Fifteen minutes and ten hard shoves against them later, Natsume dragged the lass in front of the hospital. The guard who had been standing by at the side of the door shouted, "Halt!"

Natsume frowned to the guard, stopping in front of him.

"No animals and vagrant allowed!" The guard pointed to Mikan and Mamoru. "No begging allowed inside the hospital!"

Mikan looked down to her clothes and bit her lip, murmuring sadly, "I'll wait here."

"You're the one who wants to go here," said Natsume, dragging the girl and pretending to saunter away. When the guard turned to look at a different way, he suddenly pulled her, pointing to the side of the hospital. They quickly scuttled circling the building.

The pair and their cat stopped in the back of the hospital before Natsume released her hand and pointed to the long pipe nailed on the wall, all the way up. Mikan looked at the pipe and shook her head. "No!" she said. "I'm not climbing that!"

"Yes you are." Natsume pushed the girl impatiently to the waiting tube. "You're the one who wants to do this."

She turned to glower at him. "You are very mean, you know that?"

"Whatever."

Mikan put Mamoru down and wiped her hands before starting to mount the pipe. Halfway up, she stopped, thinking about it and asking Natsume, "Wait a minute. Why don't you do this?"

"No one will catch me without dying, if I fall from that." Natsume crossed his arms.

"And you'll catch me?"

"No. Mamoru will." He raised his brow when he saw she scoffed, a pleased expression shown on his face. "I thought you're not wearing that anymore."

Mikan looked down at him, asking in puzzlement, "What?"

"Polka-dot panty," Natsume explained with a haughty expression. "It's been two days already. You're wearing the same underwear all these times. Isn't that itchy down there?"

Mikan shot him an icy glare. She was tempted to cover up her thigh but if she did that, she would experience the first hand feeling of freefall sports without harness. "Shut up, pervert," she said through gritted teeth and climbed up. Almost reaching the first window, she stopped and said out loud. "Wait a minute… How do I know which room was his? And how do I carry him out of this hospital?"

"Just push him out of the window," Natsume said in monotone. "You'll find him sooner or later."

"How do I know which one is Kaname?" Mikan asked, swaying her body and grabbing the window frame, pulling herself in with ease. She glanced inside the room.

A pale looking man stared at her in surprise. He was sitting on the bed, his hands holding a book.

_Oh-oh, _she thought. "Um… hi?" she murmured awkwardly, putting her index finger against her lips, gesturing at him to stay quiet. The man nodded.

"Hello," the man greeted her. "Who are you?"

"Polka?" Natsume's voice was heard from outside. "Are you still alive or do I have to start running away now?"

"I'm still here, Pervert!" retorted Mikan irritably before turning to the man. "I'm Mikan."

"Hello, Mikan." The man smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kaname."

Bingo.

Mikan tilted her head, studying the man. "You look okay for someone who's very ill…"

Kaname blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Oh, yeah," she said with a grin, pulling out the crumpled paper that she had hidden in her clothes (there was no other place to hide a paper in her sack other than slipping it between her panty line, but let's not get too focused on that) before giving it to Kaname.

The man opened it up and read it. After a moment, he looked at her with elation. "He's here? Bear is here?"

"No, no." Mikan shook her head. "He's still following your orders. He's at your home, waiting for you."

Kaname gave her a bright smile. "You're taking me out of here?"

Mikan nodded. Then, Kaname moved his body out of bed. He trembled and swayed weakly, almost falling down to the floor. The girl quickly ran to his side and held him. She was surprised when she realized he was so light.

"Natsume!" Mikan shouted, "I found him! Get ready to catch him!"

"Why should I?" grumbled the annoyed boy from the outside. "That eerie doll wants his body, he didn't expect him to be alive. If he died in the fall that doll won't see any difference anyway."

"Natsume!"

"Alright, alright... Just throw him out, but don't blame me if I fail to catch him," replied the boy.

Rolling her eyes at that, Mikan pushed Kaname's body out of the window.

The waiting boy grimaced when he saw a falling body of a man, opening his arms and thinking to himself.

_Someday, she will be the death of me._

-x—

* * *

-x—

The black cat yawned, his tail waving evenly behind him, resting his aching body. He had carried Kaname all the way, from the hospital to the forest. He wanted so bad to let the man drown in the river they had passed, but he had heard that a dead weight was twice the mass of a live one. So he just gritted his teeth and humoured himself with various ways in 'fictitious death of Kaname and Ruka', as they walked through the dense of the forest.

Of course, it was soon becoming worse. The sun was down and it was night time. Before Mikan said anything to stop him, he sprinted all the way with Kaname on his back, to the house a few hundred meters away and slammed the door open, throwing the surprised and exalted Kaname to Bear's embrace before transforming in front of them. They had watched him in silence, and when he saw their eyes, he knew the three of them had reached an understanding. They wouldn't expose his secret.

Bear had hid his outfit before Mikan walked in as Kaname hid him in his room. The room Ruka was in. Ruka raised his brow when he saw the Black Cat walking inside the room. He had turned into his human form, confusing Kaname as well. After a long talk, the master of the house handed his clothes to the naked blond, letting him out to meet a joyful Mikan. All that while the Black Cat sulked and hid under the bed.

It had taken almost an hour to convince Mikan for letting Mamoru being held by Kaname. He took it to the back room and quickly switching Mamoru with the Black Cat. The barn cat didn't seem too happy with this, but decided to sleep it off instead after Kaname had promised to give him a tuna. Natsume had hoped the master of the house would give him a tuna as well, that was why he was so irate when Kaname innocently took him out of the room just to toss him back into Mikan's happy hand.

Since then, Mikan and Ruka had sat in front of the house, chatting the night away until both of them being called for dinner (where Black Cat had bitten Kaname's hand in bitterness, because he had been given a cup of rice with seasonal vegetables instead of his tuna). The Bear stomped on his tail, trying to stop him.

That was why the rest of the night had been a tiring night for everyone, because they had grouped together to remove his buried fangs and sharp claws from Bear's right eyes. When they had managed to do it, Bear didn't look as good as it used to be anymore. Kaname had chuckled in amusement when Mikan said sorry profusely, he was fine about ruining something that he could sew again, he said.

Then the Black Cat decided to plant his claws and the same responsible fangs at his right foot. He smirked when they had finally let him go from Kaname's foot.

Probably the doll maker could sew his right foot himself.

-x—

* * *

-x—

Ruka yawned, stretching his body as he stood up from their bed in the guest room. Mikan was sleeping peacefully beside him, with the notorious Black Cat curled up in her chest. He glanced at the Black Cat in irritation. He had been trying to embrace the girl in her sleep, but that crazy cat clawed him off. It wasn't very hard for him, after seeing two black cats, to count that one plus one means… one.

He reached his hand out to the resting cat, grabbing him. The Black Cat snapped his eyes in shock, glaring at him as he scooped up the cat and whispered at him, "Don't scream."

The Black Cat narrowed his eyes to Ruka, but kept his calm as the blond carried him out. Ruka murmured in silent sigh, "I never thought I'll meet someone who has the same curse." He looked down to the Black Cat. "Eh, Natsume?"

Natsume rolled his eyes and snapped his head to Ruka's arm, biting him without caution. Startled, Ruka released the cat. Natsume flee when the blond ran after him.

"Stop! Hey!" shouted Ruka, following the cat. Natsume refused to listen, of course, and sprinted inside the first room he saw, the one that had a slightly opened door. It was Kaname's room.

He walked in, jumping on the bed, stomping on Kaname. The master had been sleeping with Bear, hugging him. Bear lay on his side while Kaname's head leaned on its chest, its eyes stared at the ceiling, as it didn't have slits, but it was definitely sleeping with his master. It looked so content and its arms wrapping around its master's fragile frame, securing him. Kaname was smiling peacefully in his sleep.

Natsume smirked when Ruka entered the room. The blond scoffed and whispered, "Don't you dare."

Well, he did.

Natsume took out his claw and with ease, clawed Kaname's arms brutally. He looked at Ruka's shocked look in smug, waiting for Kaname to wake up and ruin whatever plans Ruka had on him.

Kaname was still sleeping.

Natsume looked down and bit his arm. The master still lay motionless.

Natsume blinked, and after a long deep breath, walked to his face and clawed it roughly.

Then, he stopped.

Kaname was not breathing.

-x—

TBC

* * *

Cee: Hmm, okay, I have to stop here. Thank you for reading, guys, and I'll be there in chapter six.


	5. Finally Found It

**illutia mist: …**

**Mikan: Why are you so silent?**

**illutia mist: (Looks at Mikan with teary-eyes) Kaname has already dead!! (Burst in tears)**

**Mikan: (Scratches her temple) …This is just a fic, illutia.**

**illutia mist: (Crying waterfall) But still! It's sad!!**

**Natsume: Freaky author can cry too? Now that's new.**

**illutia mist: (Cries harder) Booohooo!! Natsume think I don't have a feeling!!**

**Mikan: …Natsume, you must responsible for this…**

**Natsume: Hell, I won't.**

_**Last chapter (cerespallas):**_

"_Nice to meet you. I'm Kaname."_

_Natsume looked down and bit his arms. The master still lay motionless._

_Kaname was not breathing._

**Chapter 5: Finally found it**

'…He…'

It was the only word he could think of at that time.

Natsume stayed still on the bed, staring at the lifeless doll maker. His big crimson eyes stared at the man's smiling face in shock. It surprised him that the doll maker left this world faster than he thought.

When they…well, Mikan, Ruka, and Kaname talked yesterday, the doll maker still managed to chuckle and smile. Although his face was pale, the will of life was apparent on his face.

Indeed, he had mentioned in his letter that his time would come soon. But after seeing him yesterday, Natsume thought he would be able to live a bit longer

But no…

There he was, lying in front of him. He was the same man that they had saved and talked with yesterday.

"Natsume?"

Ruka's faint sound brought him out from his shocked state. He gave the blonde-haired lad a glance from the corner of his eyes. Ruka looked at him, then at the lifeless Kaname, then back at him again. "What's wrong?" he asked.

The owner of the cerulean orbs was staring bewilderedly at the Black Cat, that suddenly stopped attacking the sleeping man. He didn't expect that the master of the house wouldn't bug after the Black Cat had left many 'presents' on his pale smooth skin.

When his eyes locked at the Black Cat's crimson orbs, he felt something's not right.

He braved himself, taking a few steps closer to the bed as Natsume watched his every movement. When he arrived at the side of the bed, the cat turned his head back to the doll maker. Ruka stretched his right hand, touching the man's chest to feel his heartbeat.

His eyes widened on the next second.

Nothing…

He felt nothing…

Ruka moved his hand and held Kaname's right hand. He pressed his thumb on the other's wrist, searching for a pulse.

Still, he felt no pulse there.

"No way…" he muttered. Ruka shifted his gazes to the cat that looked back at him with a sharp stare, as if he was saying: "It happened. Face it."

The blonde-haired lad gazed back at the man in Bear's embrace. Kaname's face looked so peaceful. His smile showed that he had no regret and he didn't feel any pain when he welcomed his death.

But even so…

What about Bear?

What should they say when Bear awoke and found out that his master had already dead?

Just when Ruka thought about it, Bear stirred in his sleep. The doll opened its beady eyes and stared at Ruka. The rabbit-boy shifted his gazes at the doll, locking his eyes with a pair of black onyx buttons that was served as its eyes. As if those cerulean eyes had said everything, Bear moved its gazes from the lad to its master.

Silence fell between them as Bear took its time staring at the man that was lying before its eyes. Ruka was speechless. He knew there's no word that could cheer Bear up at that time and decided that it's better to keep quiet for now.

Looking through the window that was behind Bear, Natsume jumped off from the bed and walked out from the room, leaving the doll mourning after its master in tranquility.

Somehow, Ruka knew where the cat went to. He patted Bear's arm gently, attracting its attention from the dead body. "Can I get some clothes?"

* * *

Natsume sat on the grassy ground outside the house, looking at the sky which the color had started to change into a brighter blue color. He moved his orbs to a certain direction and saw a brighter light started to rise up.

The sun showed a bit part of it, but it's enough for the Black Cat to transform into his real form.

As the light touched his tiny body, he started to change. In less than two minutes, he already had his human form back. He opened his eyes slowly and those crimson orbs were glowing once again.

Planning to get back into the house and get some clothes, the lad turned to his back and found a white rabbit standing at the front door. Lying on the floor in front of the small creature was his clothes from before. A smirk played on his lips as he approached the white rabbit and said, "It doesn't feel good to be small, right?"

The rabbit threw a hard glare at him while Natsume put on his clothes without any care. It was not like there would be someone peeking at him in the deep woods anyway. The only one watching him was the white rabbit, alias Ruka.

After he finished putting on his clothes, the raven-haired went inside the house, passing the rabbit on the way. "We must get out from here before that annoying Princess wake up," was all he said before he turned the doorknob to guest's room which they slept before.

Watching at his back for a few seconds, the rabbit stood still on his spot for a while. He let out a quiet sigh then quickly caught up with Natsume on the next second.

* * *

Bear was still staring at its master. Bear was just a doll, but it didn't mean it couldn't feel anything. Its master had given it something most wonderful in human's part.

Feeling.

Not only wonderful, it also hurt.

And that's what Bear felt now.

Its master surely had a powerful ability, giving life to the dolls. But it was also deadly.

He knew it would shorten his lifespan. But still, he did it, even thought he's already weak.

Very weak…

Bear's beady eyes traveled from his silky blonde hair to his pale-smiling face, his already drooped arm, and…

The doll saw something in his left hand. A white folded paper was crumpled in his grasp.

Stretching its hand, Bear opened his left fist carefully. Once his palm was opened, the doll took the paper and read it.

It was his last message…

* * *

"Oi. Wake up." Natsume said while shaking Mikan's shoulder, quite gently at first.

"Mmmm… gimme five minutes…" the brunette moaned sleepily. She didn't even open up her eyes. Instead, she slapped away the lad's hand from her shoulder.

A vein popped on Natsume's head. He started losing his patience. He had tried to wake up the sleeping girl for God-knows-how-long!

"You better wake up now or I'll leave you here, sleeping pig." He said as he stared down at the brunette while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Mmm…" was what he got a second later. More veins popped on his head.

"I leave you right now, Polka." He turned to his back.

This time, it worked. Mikan's eyes shot opened at the nickname. "NATSUME! PERVERT!!" she shouted while pointing an accusing finger at him. But the lad didn't care. Instead, he kept walking to the door and opened it.

As soon as the door was opened, a white rabbit was standing there, glaring at him.

If you had already guessed, Natsume didn't let him in when he went to the guest's room to wake up a certain brunette. Well, Natsume himself also didn't know why he didn't like the rabbit. He just…didn't like it.

And for him, it's the only reason why he didn't like Ruka.

He. Simply. Did. Not. Like. Him.

That's all.

Natsume gave the rabbit an annoying smirk then went out from the room. The rabbit glared at his back, following his movement.

"Ruka?"

The sweet familiar sound attracted his attention from the raven-haired lad. He turned his head at the sound's direction right at that time when he felt being lifted up by a pair of feminine hands. He saw the brunette's face in front of him and directly blushed.

"Good morning!" she beamed at him, making his face turned redder. "Hm? Your face is red. Are you alright? I never heard that a rabbit could turn red too," she said while observing him closer.

In just a few inches...

In just a few inches, their face would meet.

"Oi! I'll leave you here if you don't get out from the house in five seconds!"

Mikan pulled her head back and shouted irritatingly, "Alright! Alright! I'll get out now! Geez! Can't you be a little patient?!"

Ruka grunted in annoyance. If it wasn't because of the 'Black Cat', he would have kissed her by now…even though he's still in his rabbit form.

The brunette gazed around the guest's room, searching for her black cat companion. "Mamoru? Where are you?" she called while checking under the bed. "Mamoru?" She heard no mew. Mikan tilted her head and thought. "Is he in Kaname's room?" she muttered and then went out from the guest's room.

Ruka's face turned pale.

The brunette would be shocked if she found out that Kaname had passed away. He must do something to attract her attention.

Ruka jumped off from her hold and stormed out from the house. He thought the brunette would chase him if he did this.

But how wrong he was.

Before he went out from the door, he caught a glimpse of the brunette who was walking to the other direction.

And it was definitely not a good sign at all.

"Oi, where's Polka?"

The cold sound got his attention. He looked at Natsume who was standing out there in impatience. The black cat was hanging on his left shoulder. Ruka nodded his head to the front room, hoping that Natsume could catch what he meant.

And this time he surely was right.

The raven-haired lad's expression changed into a surprise one. On the next second, he ran passing Ruka inside the house and approached a certain door, which was Kaname's bedroom. Ruka followed him from behind. With his tiny legs, it's quite hard for him to catch up with the lad.

Natsume slammed the door opened. The first thing he saw was the brunette's back. The girl was standing in front of the bed, not moving. He didn't need to ask what had happened, for he already knew the reason. He also saw Bear sitting on the bed, hugging its master's body closely.

Panting lightly, he approached the brunette. "Oi."

"He's gone…" she muttered, didn't bother to turn and face him.

"…"

"I just wanted to greet him and thank him for letting we stayed for a night here…" she said, "but he didn't wake up…no matter how much I tried…he didn't wake up…"

"Pol-"

Before he could finish his word, Mikan turned to face him. He could see the tears had welled up in her eyes. "He's dead, Natsume! He's dead!"

"I know," Natsume said calmly. His stare was sharp, showing no hesitant inside him. "He's already gone a few hours ago."

Mikan's eyes widened. "You already know…?" she muttered in disbelief. Her eyes were still locked with his. "You already know and you didn't tell me?!"

"Then what?!" he snapped. His eyebrows were furrowed.

"What…"

"If I told you then what?!" he asked sharply. He's already getting irritated. "It's not like that you can resurrect him again!"

She frowned at his tone and words. "Well! If you know then why do you want to leave this place quickly?! You even didn't tell me! I can't believe you!" she snapped at him angrily; a tear finally made its way down on her cheek.

Glaring at her, the lad snapped back, "And what?! Heard you crying for you-knows-how-long?! Look at yourself now! What's that tears on your face now?!"

Mikan wiped the tears away with her forearm. But the tears didn't stop there. It came out more and more. She kept wiping it, but her effort was futile.

She was hurt, either it because of Kaname's death or Natsume's harsh words. She never knew that his words could affect her this much.

She covered her face with both of her hands. "And why do you care anyway! You never cared what I do and feel! You never cared about me!"

The raven-haired lad narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah. I don't care and I WILL NEVER care about you! So there! Cry your eyes out! I'll leave you here right now!" he retorted as he turned to his back and walked away. 'Darn it! Stupid annoying Princess! Just do whatever you like! I don't care!'

Mikan slumped down on the floor, crying silently while trying to wipe the tears with her forearm once again. Bear, who had witnessed their fight, lay Kaname's body gently on the bed. The doll got off from the bed and approached the brunette. It patted her head gently.

Feeling the soft pats, Mikan pulled back her arms from her face and looked up, staring at Bear's unreadable face. Bear stretched out it right hand, showing a white paper in its hand. The brunette looked at the bear once again, making sure that the Bear wanted her to take the paper. Bear gave no expression, just staring at her as its hand still stretched out to her.

The girl took the gesture as a 'yes'. She lifted her right hand and took the paper from Bear. It's crumpled for a bit. She read it silently.

* * *

-

My dearest Bear, I feel my time has already come. I'm sorry that I'm not telling you about this. I also can't tell our guests too. They'll just be sad, especially Mikan.

I don't know how many minutes that I still have when I write this. But I want you to know that I'll always love you, my friend. I really am.

Can you tell them this for me? Tell them to live their life to the fullest with persons that they loved. Don't let the regret come to them when the time has come. And no, I don't regret everything that happened in my life. I will never regret about you, Bear. You're my very best friend since I created you.

I guess I can go in peace now…

Farewell…Bear…

With love, Kaname.

-

* * *

A tear dropped on the paper after she finished reading it. The tears that started to dry a few minutes ago had come out again from her hazel eyes. The words on the letter looked blurred in her eyes. The tears had covered her sight.

_Tell them to live their life to the fullest with persons that they loved. Don't let the regret come to them when the time has come._

Those two sentences were ringing in her head. That reminded her of her father, friends, the palace's residents, and her people in the country of Insignia.

Now she felt that she was being selfish, running away from the palace without telling anyone; that maybe had been worried to dead because of her sudden missing. But all of this was for her country. And after she got the prince, she just needed to marry him and her country's prosperity would be just fine.

…But what about her…?

She always believed that she would marry someone that she loved with all her heart.

But her people…her kingdom…

Should she sacrifice all of them for what she believed?

Bear's soft tap on her shoulder brought her to the reality once again. She just realized that she's still in Kaname's bedroom. She glanced at the man's body that was lying on the bed in peace then she shifted her gazes to the doll in front of her.

She stared at Bear for a while before a smile finally found its way on her face, "Thank you, Bear. I'll see you next time." She handed back the paper to the bear doll.

She turned to face Kaname. She clasped her hands in front of her, praying for his peacefulness in the other world. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes then looked at Bear and showed her best smile before she turned away, heading to the exit door. Bear stared at her running figure.

…Maybe it's the last time they could see each other…

* * *

"Natsume!"

The raven-haired lad didn't turn to see who called him. The sound was so familiar to him anyway, considering he always heard it in the palace where he lived. He still felt a bit annoyed.

"Natsume!" The brunette tapped his shoulder and panted heavily. The lad looked away. Mikan realized that he's still mad at her. Ruka stared at them, wondering what had happened. Back then, he finally arrived at Kaname's bedroom when he heard Natsume shouting angrily. He didn't know what had made the lad that mad though.

"Natsume, I'm sorry, okay?" Mikan murmured, playing with her fingers while staring at him through her eyelashes. "I'm just confused and a little disappointed that you didn't tell me about Kaname…"

He threw her a glance from the corner of his eyes. He still decided to shut his mouth though. The black cat on his shoulder didn't take any care about the situation. He just hung loosely there.

Natsume still silenced when he walked away from the brunette. Mikan's face showed sadness and disappointed. She stayed on her spot while staring at the grassy ground.

Suddenly, the lad stopped on his track. The brunette didn't aware at this. She's drowned too deep in her thought. That's it until…

"You'll just stand there?"

Upon hearing the question, she lifted her head and looked at him. Natsume still had his back at her, but he did stop there. 'Is he waiting for me?' was what she thought at that time. On the next second, her face brightened and she approached him. Ruka followed her from behind, glad that the situation had lightened for a bit.

At least, that was what he thought at that time.

What happened next surely would change the situation.

As she caught up with him, Natsume started to walk again. Mikan, on the other side, stopped on her newly spot for a while. She turned to her back, wanting to say goodbye once again. That's when she saw something that she never expected.

A big gray smoke floated on a certain direction, which she knew it was Bear and Kaname's house.

Her eyes widened. 'Bear!'

Without thinking again, Mikan ran back to the house. Natsume was wondered by her sudden reaction, but decided to chase her though. Ruka followed the two with his remaining energy. He was in his rabbit form, but fate had been cruel to him for he always ran here and there since morning.

Mikan ran into the smoke's direction until she finally appeared at a familiar opening.

The difference was…

The house that they had stayed in the night before was covered by fire, creating big gray smokes on the sky. The wood that built up the house was ruined one by one into ashes. And there's no sign of Bear getting out from there.

"BEAR!" she shouted as she ran closer to the house. But before she could get closer, a pair of arms gripped her tiny frame from behind.

"STUPID! YOU COULD KILL YOURSELF!" Natsume shouted while trying to prevent her from getting nearer to the fire that was eating the entire house by now.

"NO! LET GO OFF ME, NATSUME! BEAR IS STILL IN THERE!" Mikan shouted back, trying to release herself from his grasp. But to no avail, the lad held her tighter. Hell, he couldn't let her die there. "LET GO OFF ME! LET-" Her shout was stopped when she saw a shadow at the window.

Bear looked at them from there. The doll didn't do anything, just staring at them. It looked like it didn't have any intention to safe itself too. And the brunette wondered why.

Natsume, whose eyes as sharp as a cat, saw it.

The bear doll was holding a box of match in its hand. He directly understood what really happened at that time.

Bear was the one who burnt the house.

"BEAR! GET OUT FROM THE HOUSE! IF NOT-"

"He wants this," Natsume cut her off, surprised her. Mikan stopped struggling and looked at him. "He's the one who burnt the house."

The girl in his embrace stared at him in disbelief. 'Bear…burnt the house…?'

"He already has no purpose in this world again after its master left. He decided to die with him," he said as his bangs covered his eyes. Right after he ended his sentence, Mikan's leg betrayed her. It's good for her that Natsume was holding her, so that she didn't fall on the ground.

As she stared at the house that started to ruin, her vision became blurred; everything was unclear to her once again.

That's when she realized that her tears had already welled up in her eyes.

This time, she didn't hold the tears back. She even didn't try to stop them from flowing down on her cheeks. She cried her eyes out while holding Natsume's right arm.

Nothing could stop the tears at that time.

* * *

"…What a crybaby…" a figure in midnight blue colored hooded-cloak mumbled while looking at a crystal ball in front of 'him'. In the crystal ball, there's a view where a certain brunette was crying in the raven-haired lad's embrace.

"Who do you mean?" another figure came into the scene. A man with white mask and dark lipstick approached the person with hooded-cloak. His black cloak swayed behind him smoothly, following his every movement. His black boots that were just seven centimeters again from his knee stepped on the floor firmly, creating a few echoes in the room when he walked.

"The stupid Princess," the cloaked person replied.

The man with white mask let out a chuckle. "But it seems you're attracted to her, Prince Imai."

Prince Imai looked at him. "What makes you think so, Persona?"

The man with white mask, called Persona, leaned on the wall near the teenage Prince. "You're always checking on her everyday since they spread the news that you were kidnapped."

He was indeed correct

"I just want to see how my fiancée looked like," the young one said calmly. He focused his eyes back to the crystal ball.

A grin appeared on Persona's face. "Whatever you say, Prince."

The Prince didn't say anything. He stared at the crystal ball, which showed the lad carrying the brunette with piggy-back ride and going out from the woods. The black cat was still on his shoulder, yawning. The rabbit followed by their side.

But the one that he focused on more is the raven-haired lad. "You know this Natsume, don't you?" Persona looked at him in surprise. The Prince just kept staring at the crystal ball. "I guess I'm right."

The man with white mask pressed his lips together and answered, "I'm amazed at your great knowledge, Prince Imai."

The young one didn't get flattered by his compliment. In her calm and coolly tone, he said, "Thanks for the compliment, Persona."

* * *

The weather was bright that day. Yet, a gloomy look was clearly seen on a brunette's face. People that passed by in front of them somehow felt uncomfortable with the gloomy aura that was emitted from her. They fastened their paces when they felt the dark aura.

But the brunette didn't care though, nor did the raven-haired lad beside her. The black cat yawned once again on his shoulder. The white rabbit was sitting beside her and looked at the brunette in worry.

By that time, Mikan and Natsume were already sitting on the bench at a park which was happened to be in the country of Sulvaria.

Yes. It's the place where the Prince used to live before he was kidnapped. Or so they said.

Anyway, if you looked at her closely, the rice sack Princess was still sobbing. She had cried for a few hours which made the boy must carry her out from that place. And the nearest country that they could go was Sulvaria. And that's how they ended there.

Natsume glanced at the brunette from the corner of his eyes, being bugged by the sobs that kept coming from her from time to time. He's never good at comforting other peoples. Hell, not even a girl.

And the brunette just made his situation worsened.

People kept glancing at them. A few of them that didn't run pitied the brunette and glared at him, sending a silent message that saying: "Why you don't you cheer her instead of sitting like a statue there?"

A few peoples tried to approach them; or for more specific, the brunette. But Natsume's glare sent them away. It's like saying: "Let her be. Go now or you'll be in Hell on the next second."

Oh well.

Something tugged his sleeve and he glanced at the source. The brunette looked at him with her red eyes, but a smile managed to appear on her face. "Thank you for letting me cried and not scolding me," she said softly.

It quite surprised him that the brunette thought like that. Little did she know, he wanted to scold her badly; but he couldn't do it after seeing her in the fragile state. That's why he just kept silenced and let her crying until she was satisfied. He didn't know what happened to him. He could just leave her in the woods if he wanted, but he didn't.

Thinking about that strange feeling force, he also remembered the night when he was still in his cat form and the brunette was wondered where his human form went to. He did see something in her eyes which he knew as a feeling named sadness. Without realizing what he did, he lifted his palm and caressed her. And when the brunette retaliated by kissing the tip of his nose, he felt weird. Somehow, he felt his heart beating faster.

Something strange was definitely happened to him.

"Hn," was his simple reply after he was silent for a few seconds.

The brunette's smile widened. He felt his heart brightened when he saw that smile of hers. He remembered the time when he's still in the palace. Wondering from place to place, sometimes he spotted the brunette playing with the maids, laughing and smiling. At that time, she didn't know how cruel the life could be sometimes. And now she had faced one of the cruelties.

Somehow, he silently hoped that the smile didn't fade from her face after this journey.

"Are you sure?" a little boy's voice suddenly was heard.

"Mm! I saw him yesterday!" another little boy's voice whispered.

Natsume didn't bother to turn at the direction. With his cat ability, he could hear the conversation clearly. The brunette kept smiling while watching peoples passed by.

"Are you really sure?" the first little boy asked again, uncertain of something.

"Yes! I saw the kidnapped Prince inside the abandoned tower that is on the north from the castle!" the second boy hissed.

The conversation caught his interest. 'The abandoned tower on the north from the castle, huh.'

Without waiting again, he stood up; shifting the brunette's attention to him. "What's wrong, Natsume?" she asked innocently.

Natsume looked down at her. "I think I have the clue where the Prince has stayed all this time."

* * *

"Persona," the Prince called while having his attention full at the crystal ball.

The man with white mask approached him. "What's wrong, Prince Imai?"

"Send one of my right-hand men to them. They have found out this place," the lad said.

Persona raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"

The Prince grew quiet for a while, thinking. After a few seconds, he looked at the other.

"Yuu Tobita."

--To be continued--

**illutia mist: (Still crying) Boooohooo!!**

**Mikan: (Looks at Natsume) Are you sure you'll let her be like this forever?**

**Natsume: Positive.**

**illutia mist: (Teary-eyed) Natsume is mean!!**

**Natsume: (Glares at illutia) So what?**

**illutia mist: Are you mad because I wrote more angst than fluffy?**

**Natsume: Hell, which part is fluffy? **

**illutia mist: (Scratching her nape) Uh…hidden? (Grinning sheepishly)**

**Mikan: …She surely is clever this time by not showing the fluff parts.**

**Natsume: (Glares more at illutia) No. She showed a light one. And I bet she'll definitely make one on the later chapters.**

**illutia mist: Uh…Bingo…?**

**Mikan & Natsume: …**

**illutia mist: …He…he? (Laughing sheepishly)**

**Natsume: (Takes out the board from before) …Must definitely hit you with this.**


End file.
